


Only a Sleeper

by BiFelicia



Series: Hallmark [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Late Night Conversations, Midnight Fun Facts, Sneaky Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 16:41:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18237530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiFelicia/pseuds/BiFelicia
Summary: “Lena?”She lets out a grumble, rolling to face her girlfriend, although her eyes remain closed, sleep-sweaty and exhausted. “Yes?”“Did you know that penguins have knees?”Lena's eyes open. “What?”“Penguins have knees,” Kara whispers. “We just can’t see them because of their chubby bodies.”“Wha- okay? Why are you telling me this at-” she glances at the clock and groans “2:17 in the morning?”“I just wanted you to know,” Kara says, patting Lena's hand fondly before rolling over and dropping into a deep sleep.Lena is afforded no such luxury. She stares at the ceiling as Kara drifts off, wide awake, thinking about, of all fucking things, penguin knees.“What the fuck, Kara?”Kara keeps waking Lena up in the middle of the night.Or, five times Kara wakes Lena up, and one time Lena wakes up Kara.(Can be read without reading Hallmark or Maggie Sawyer's Guide)





	Only a Sleeper

“Lena, I have to tell you something.”

 _'Great. This doesn't sound ominous at all. You did something, and now she doesn't love you, and if she doesn't love you no one_ else _is going to because she's perfect,_ and _you'll have lost your family, and-_ ’

Lena swallows thickly, trying to fight off her rising panic. “What is it?”

“I think that we-”

_'Here it comes…’_

“-should get Segways.”

A choked, relieved half-laugh escapes before Lena can stop it. _“What?!”_

“No, look, hear me out- we wouldn't have to walk when we go places, and they're better for the environment than cars, and you could get away faster if people try to grab you because, y'know, you run like a dinosaur-”

“Kara, you can literally fl- wait, I _what_?!”

“You run like a dinosaur, _ehl_. Accept it and move on.”

“I do not!”

Kara turns onto her side so she's fully facing Lena and does her best impression of her girlfriend's single-eyebrow-raise. “I have video evidence.”

Lena doesn't doubt it, but shoves at Kara anyways. “Ass.”

“You like me. And my butt, so really, that's not an insult.”

Lena considers this for a moment before smiling softly, cupping Kara's sleepy face. “I do like you. _And_ your ass. But we're not getting matching Segways until we're 75, at least.”

“Cool! Just 24 more years for me!”

“Phantom Zone years don't count, Kara, we've already talked about this.”

“That was just when we were deciding whether or not I was a cougar!”

“And it's still relevant.”

“Aw…”

“Don't pout, and go to sleep,” Lena says fondly, tucking a few wild blonde curls behind Kara's ear and kissing her forehead.

“We could make the Segways so _cool_ , Lena!”

“I want you to think about the words that just came out of your mouth, the order in which they were arranged, and how impossible it is for them to become reality, _while you're asleep_.”

“Fine.” There's a brief, blissful moment of quiet before “Lena?”

She groans quietly. “ _Yes_ , Kara?”

“Did, uh, did you just say when _we're_ 75? Like, as in, us, still being together when we're 75?”

 _'Shit. Good one, Luthor.’_ “I… may have, yes.” Lena licks her lips, mouth suddenly very dry.

“Is that what you _meant_ to say?”

And oh, this girl who asks questions like that. Who _knows_ Lena _well_ _enough_ to ask questions like that… “Is that an issue?”

Kara lifts Lena easily and lays her on top of her own body (which may or may not be Lena's favorite place to sleep, even though Kara's always worried she'll get thrown through a wall if the blonde rolls over too suddenly) and settles her hands on the small of Lena's back, scratching lightly. “Oh, _ehl_. That's all I want. Us to be raisins together. With our puffy hair and herd of dogs and cool matching Segways.”

“My hair will _never_ be puffy. It's not allowed,” Lena says, burying her face in Kara's neck and praying her voice is muffled enough that Kara can't tell that she's trying (unsuccessfully) not to get choked up. “And Segways will never be cool.”

Kara chuckles, rubbing small, soothing circles over Lena's back. “You'd look cute with puffy hair.”

“No.”

“So cute and tiny.”

“Absolutely not.”

“With your cotton-candy hair.”

“Nope.”

“And wrinkles.”

“Kara…”

“Rao knows your eyebrows will still be perfect.”

“I knew you were after me for _something_. Silly me, suspecting it was my money, influence, looks, or name,” Lena chuckles wetly.

“You caught me. I'm in this _strictly_ because of your eyebrows.”

Lena lifts her head and waggles said eyebrows at her girlfriend exaggeratedly. “Is this doing anything for you?”

“Oh baby, _yeah_. That's doing a _lot_ for me.” Kara rolls them both and muffles Lena's laugh with a kiss.

********

“Lena.”

 _‘No. Not again_.’

_“Lena.”_

“Yes?”

There's a long pause.

Lena sighs and opens her eyes, barely resisting a full-body flinch of surprise when Kara's face appears less than an inch in front of her. “Fuck! Kara, you're gorgeous and I love you, but _too close_.”

“Sorry.” Kara dutifully shuffles a few inches backward. “But Lena, this is important.”

And Lena closes her eyes, because she knows. She _knows_ it's going to be something ridiculous and not important _at all_ , but still. She's still Lena Luthor, insatiably curious nerd and sucker for everything Kara Danvers does. “What do you need, love?”

“So you know how Alex and Maggie are getting married?”

For the second time in as many minutes, Lena physically fights the urge to jerk backward. “I am aware of that, yes.”

“So I was thinking-”

_'Oh, you sweet, amazing, lovely, beautiful, perfect idiot, if you woke me up in the middle of the night to propose to me, I'm… going to say yes.’_

“-that we should get a dog.”

Lena's breath leaves her in a whoosh. “A dog?”

She's almost ashamed to be relieved. She loves Kara, she does. And she's pretty sure that this is _it_ for both of them, because it's… she's never felt like this, about anyone or anything, which makes sense because it's _Kara_ , but still- it's only been a few months. “Kara, we can't get a dog. We work too much.”

“Different hours, though!”

“Still too many. Not to mention, dogs need a place to play.”

“Your place is huge!”

“ _Outside_.”

“But the balcony is nice!”

“It is. It’s also too small for a dog. Not to mention, we don't live in the same place.”

And they don't, technically. Kara has her studio on the west end and Lena has her big loft downtown, and each apartment distinctly belongs to one or the other- Kara's place is all cozy charm and hazy morning light, and Lena's is sleek and modern and clean.

But still, six nights out of seven, one of their apartments is empty while they hole up in one of their beds.

Kara's brow furrows. “I forgot about that part.”

Lena chuckles. “I wouldn't mind getting a dog with you, darling. In fact, I look forward to doing exactly that one day. But not right now.”

She can feel Kara’s potent pout in the darkness. “Okay. One day, though? We can get a dog?”

“What if I’m a cat person?”

“Cats are good too! My first friend was a cat! Oh! We could have both! There’s so many cute videos of dogs and cats being friends! Here, let me show you!”

 

And they spend the next hour watching those videos on Kara’s phone.

They _are_ cute.

********

“Lena?”

It wakes Lena out of a dead sleep, heart pounding, and all she can manage is a loving but rueful, “Yes, darling?”

“So I’m blonde.”

Lena blinks. “I’m aware of that, yes.”

“And Clark has black hair.”

“Correct.”

“And Lois has brown hair.”

“Yes…? Is there a point to-”

“What color will their kids’ hair be?”

 _‘Oh. This is easy enough.’_ “Dark, probably.”

“Because it’s the dominant trait for humans, right?”

“Yes.”

“Right.” There’s a pronounced pause during which Lena thinks she might be able to fall asleep again. “Hey Lena?”

She manages to muffle the groan-sob combo that’s threatening to emerge. “Yes?”

“What color would our kids’ hair be?”

Lena’s eyes fly open.

_‘Goddammit.’_

She licks her suddenly dry lips. “Well, ignoring all the logistical and biological issues that question presents-”

_“Lena.”_

“-they would most likely have dark hair, like mine.”

“What about eyes?”

“Blue is more dominant than green, especially since your family all had blue eyes.”

Kara nods thoughtfully. “So not green?”

“It could happen, but it’s unlikely,”” Lena agrees.

“So the kid wouldn’t look like a little you?”

And _god_ , the disappointment so palpable in Kara’s voice make’s Lena’s heart want to _explode_. “Probably not.” She rolls and bumps Kara’s shoulder gently with her forehead. “Why the sudden interest in heredity?”

Another long pause. “I dunno. Just ‘cause. I know the basics, but, well, you’re the scientist.”

“So are you.”

She feels Kara kiss the tip of her nose and can’t help how it wrinkles in response. “Mm.”

“So why… kids?”

She can hear Kara shrug beside her. “I dunno. I like kids.” The air seems suddenly heavier. “Do- d’you like kids?”

Lena nods firmly. “Love them.”

Kara blows out a shaky breath. “Good. That- good.”

 

They fall asleep not long after, a big question unasked but not exactly unanswered. And they dream of impossible things, Lena curled around Kara like a shell.

********

“Lena?”

She lets out a grumble, rolling to face her girlfriend, although her eyes remain closed, sleep-sweaty and exhausted. “Yes?”

“Did you know that penguins have knees?”

Lena's eyes open. _“What?”_

“Penguins have knees,” Kara whispers. “We just can’t see them because of their chubby bodies.”

“Wha- okay? Why are you telling me this at-” she glances at the clock and _groans_ “2:17 in the morning?”

“I just wanted you to know,” Kara says, patting Lena's hand fondly before rolling over and dropping into a deep sleep.

Lena is afforded no such luxury. She stares at the ceiling as Kara drifts off, wide awake, thinking about, of all fucking things, penguin knees.

“What the _fuck_ , Kara?”

 

Over an hour later, Kara is snoring, curled softly around Lena, who is still _wide awake_.

She’s stared at the ceiling, deconstructing and reconstructing her car engine in her head at least twice, and still sleep evades her.

There’s only one solution.

“Kara?”

 “Mmph?”

_“Kara.”_

An arm flops around in the dark, hand landing on Lena’s face more by chance than anything else. “Yeah, _ehl_?”

Lena grabs the hand and holds it tight. “You remember saying you’d give me whatever I want to the best of your ability, yes?”

“We- I can’t steal paintings from museums to return them to their owners, Lena.” She yawns. “I had a dream you wanted me to do that. We wore spy suits and masks and there were secret identities, and-”

“What? No. Actually… yes, we’re going to revisit that idea.”

_“Yes.”_

“Kara.”

“Sorry. What do you need?”

“You.”

Suddenly, Kara is hovering over her, face swimming into focus in the dark. “Me?”

 _‘Yes, you, because you woke me up to talk about penguin knees and now I can’t sleep because all I can think about are_ penguin knees _.’_

“You.” Lena curls a hand over the back of Kara’s neck, pulling her closer. Kara puts up no resistance, allowing herself to be drawn face-to-face with Lena. “I have an important meeting tomorrow.”

“I know! And you’re giving that speech. I read over your notes- it’s really good, by the way.” Kara’s breath tickles against Lena’s lips.

“Thank you.  So with all of that going on, you know it’s important that I get enough sleep?”

Kara turns suddenly very serious. “Of course.”

“Good. So I need you to knock me out.”

“ _What_?! You want me to hit you? Are you _insane_?!”

“No!” Lena breathes in through her nose, out through her mouth. “I need you to wear me out so I can fall asleep.”

Kara’s brow furrows. “Like… go on a run? Because- wait, you hate running.” She’s clearly still about 67% asleep, cognitively speaking.

“No.” She stifles a laugh at her sleepy, confused girlfriend. “Think, darling.”

A pause. “Oh. _Oh!_ You’re talking about sex!”

Kara has all the subtlety of a hand grenade, and Lena loves her for it. “Do you think you can handle that? Because I would _really_ appreciate it.”

“Wait, appreciate what, the sleeping or the sex?”

“Preferably both, but given a choice…”

“Sleep?”

“Sleep.”

“Gotcha. Well, Miss, Luthor, I think I can manage that.”

“Are you sure? It’s a big ask.”

“Never fear-” there’s a whoosh, and she reappears before Lena can even blink, wearing her suit. “-Supergirl is here!”

“You’re going to fuck me to sleep in the suit?” Lena asks, biting her lip. When Kara shrugs and nods agreeably, she smirks. “Kinky.”

Kara rolls her eyes. “Oh shush and go to sleep.”

“Make me,” Lena challenges.

 

She does.

********

Lena’s window rattles, jolting her awake. “What the-”

_“LENA!”_

And at this point, Lena just has to laugh. Because Kara isn’t even staying over tonight and yet, here she is, waking Lena up in the middle of the night.

_“Leeeeeena!”_

And also, apparently drunk.

Lena is going to _kill_ Lucy Lane.

She gets off the couch where she’d fallen asleep and shuffles to the wide French doors, tugging Kara inside with surprising ease. “Did you drunk fly here?”

Kara is suddenly shifty. “No. Noooooo, that- that’d be so dangerous. For me and the… pigeons.”

Lena snorts, deciding to let it go, for now. “So you and Lucy had fun?”

“ _Sooooo_ much fun. Did you know, there’s more than just the one thing that can get me drunk? There’s, like, a _lot_ of them. The DEO sheized-” Kara’s brow furrows, eyes wide and confused and glassy. “That’s not the right way to say the word- they sneezed it? No, that’s not… they took it. From some bad guys.”

“Seized it?” Lena offers, amused in spite of herself.

Drunk Kara is one of her favorite things, even at- god, _four am._ Where were they that they stayed out until _four am_?

“Yes! That one. You’re so smart! And pretty. And nice. You’re pretty, smart, and nice, and I really like you. Scratch that- _looove_ you. Like, so, so much. I’d say to the moon and back, but that’s a short trip.”

Lena fights the blush she feels heating her cheeks as Kara smiles at her, happy and guileless in her earnestness. “Thank you, and I love you too.

Kara’s eyes pop wide. “You _do_? Really?!!” Lena nods with a soft smile, and the biggest grin Lena’s ever seen on her crosses her face. “This is just the _best_ day.”

Lena chuckles, earlier exasperation evaporated. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“Okay!”

Kara is easy to guide to Lena’s room, floating an inch or so off the ground. About halfway down the hallway, however, she starts to drift into the wall. Lena pulls her elbow to correct her. “Careful. That’s a structural wall.”

Kara makes a disgruntled noise. “Not my fault- it jumped in front of me.”

“Of course it did, darling.”

 

Lena manages to get Kara out of her clothes- or, rather, Kara realizes what she’s doing and carelessly tears them off herself. Lena winces, not looking forward to explaining to Kara that she’d shredded her favorite shirt.

Getting Kara _into_ clothes, however, proves entirely hopeless ( _“I have to be_ free _, Lena!_ Full _range of motion!”, punctuated by several sloppy karate chops and a clumsy kick- thank god Lena turned on the red sun lamps)_ , and eventually Lena gives up, settling them both under the blankets.

It’s not like sleeping next to her naked girlfriend is much of a sacrifice on her part, after all- Kara’s body is a work of art, as far as Lena’s concerned.

Kara, even drunk and under-powered, shifts and shuffles them until her head is on Lena’s shoulder, arm thrown protectively across Lena’s stomach and one leg over Lena’s hips. “Lena?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not mad that I woke you up, are you?”

“No,” Lena answers immediately, pressing a kiss to Kara’s hairline. “I sleep better when you’re here, anyways.”

Kara hums in contentment, tracing patterns mindlessly over Lena’s hip with her fingertips. “’Kay.” She shuffles a bit until her lips are at Lena’s ear. “I like when you sleep good.”

“Well.”

“That too,” Kara agrees. She kisses Lena’s ear and lies back down with a sigh. “Y’know, I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Lena presses her forehead to Kara’s, falling asleep with a smile on her face.

********

“Kara.”

“No, _ehl_. Sleep. It's dark o'clock. Time for sleeps,” Kara hums, pulling Lena closer to her.

“Kara, please? It'll be quick, I promise.”

Kara cracks one eye open. “‘Kay. What d'you need?”

“How fast does the universe move?”

Kara's eyes fly open. “What?”

“How fast does the universe move? I know you know the answer.”

“I do, but that's- it's not- Lena, it's like 4 am!”

“3:48.”

“So even _earlier_ than what I said,” Kara observes wryly.

“Yes.”

“Lena, _why_ do you need to know right now? I was asleep.”

“It's important.”

“So important it can't wait until morning?” Kara asks knowingly.

“...yes.”

“Dang it, you woke me up before you realized what time it was, didn't you?”

“That is entirely possible. But I had a dream and it was _great_ and I just wanted to check my math.”

Kara blinks and props herself up on an elbow so she can look down at Lena. “You want to check your _math_ , which you did _in a dream_ , so you woke me up to ask about the speed of the universe?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Lena…” Kara moans, flopping onto the bed and closing her eyes. Sometimes, dating one of the smartest people on the planet is _exhausting_.

“Please? How long can it really take?”

Kara eyes Lena suspiciously, but she's all wide-eyed eagerness and a hint of apology tugs at her mouth. “Fine. But just this one thing, then we're going back to sleep. Now, what do you know about…”

 

Hours later, the sun is coming up and they're sitting on the floor at the foot of Lena's bed, surrounded by laptops and tablets and even Kara's physics textbook (as well as several more advanced books Lena had on her shelves).

“...so, see? That's how you calculate the speed at which the universe moves. And _this_ is how to account for it in intergalactic _and_ interstellar travel, and _this_ is the equation for the minimum power needed to reach the distances you calculate,” Kara explains, pleased with herself for remembering all of this.

Lena's staring wide-eyed. “Wow.”

“Yeah, so that- can I sleep now?”

“I’d say yes, but-”

And Kara can feel it, the yellow sun’s radiation soaking into her as the sky is stained purple and pink. She groans. “Lena, _why_?”

“I’m sorry, I just- you know what? You wake me up all the time!”

“I do _not_!”

“You woke me up to tell me that penguins have knees!”

“Because they _do_ have knees! And I don’t remember you complaining. Unless you count _‘Don’t stop’_ as complaining…”

“You woke me up too ask about what color our imaginary future child’s hair would be!”

“…okay, that’s a solid point, but-”

“Segways!”

“Hey, I stand by that.”

“Why do you wake me up all the time?!”

“Because you have nightmares!”

Lena freezes. “What?”

Kara sighs, scrubbing at her face with her palms and sweeping her hair out of her face. “You- so I can hear your heartbeat, right?”

“So you’ve said.”

“Right, so I can- I listen to it, it’s, like… soothing- I’ve told you that.” Lena nods. “And, um, it gets _loud_ , when you’re having bad dreams. And too fast.”

“…I’d imagine that that’s true.”

“So I used to just wake you up, but… you were always just… _off_ , after. Stuck on it.”

And Lena knows. That’s how they’d shared a bed for the first time, after all- Kara comforting her after a nightmare, before they were even a couple. When they were barely even friends. She nods, not trusting herself to speak.

“So I was thinking, and, like, I can usually make you laugh. So I just… started waking you up and then trying to make you laugh. And I figured out if I time it just right, you go back to sleep easy.”

“Penguin knees,” Lena mutters incredulously.

“Penguin knees,” Kara agrees.

“So you’ve been waking me up, with these _ridiculous, lovely_ things, because I was having nightmares.”

“Yes, sort of.”

Lena shakes her head and lets out a wet laugh. “You’re a marvel, Kara Danvers.”

“Are you crying? _Why do I always make you cry?!_ ”

Lena cups her face and presses a kiss between her brows. “Because you make me _so stupidly happy_.”

“That doesn’t even make _sense_!”

Lena shrugs. “Even if it doesn’t make sense, it’s still true.”

Kara wraps her arms securely around Lena’s waist and hums low in her chest. “Agree to disagree.”

“Also, I- considering what you told me, about why you’ve been waking me up… I owe you an apology.”

Kara’s brow furrows, and Lena pulls away, looking guilty. “For what?”

“Waking you up, and _keeping_ you up, with this whole…” Lena flaps her hand vaguely. “Speed of the universe thing.”

Kara shrugs. “Don’t be, it was bugging you.”

“That’s the thing…”

Lena watches as Kara connects the dots. Her eyes widen in betrayal. “You did that- the math dream, all the diagrams, _asking literally the most complicated thing ever at four in the morning_ to keep me up all night on purpose? For _revenge_?!”

“…that is accurate.”

 _“Lena!”_ But Kara’s wheezing with laughter. “Oh Rao, I can’t believe you did that! You _jerk_!”

Lena shrugs sheepishly. “I didn’t know you were being sweet, waking me up all the time. I thought you just woke me up for penguin knees and dogs and genetics lessons! I thought _you_ were the jerk, so I was going to give you a taste of your own medicine and, I don't know, fall asleep while you were talking. Except… this is actually _fascinating_.”

Kara laughs. “Rao, I can’t believe this. That’s so _sneaky_! And it backfired; you didn’t get any sleep either because you’re such a _nerd_!”

Lena flushes. “It did. Next time I’ll have to ask about something less engaging.”

Kara tackles her lightly, cradling the back of her head so it doesn’t smack against the floor. “Everything I say is interesting.”

“I would argue, but that’s true,” Lena agrees with a smile, shifting so her thighs are bracketing Kara’s narrow hips, fingers tracing up her stomach. “We have to go to work soon.”

“I’m-” Kara coughs weakly “-I’m suddenly feeling very sick.”

Lena laughs, locking her ankles and pulling an unresisting Kara more fully on top of her. “Oh, _are_ you?”

Kara nods. “ _So_ sick. I think I should stay home.”

“Well, I suppose that as your girlfriend I should stay here too. To keep an eye on you.”

“I think that’s for the best. I feel very weak…” and Kara collapses, dropping her full weight onto Lena, who shrieks out a laugh.

“Kara!”

“So… so weak. Can’t… move,” Kara moans dramatically, burying her nose in Lena’s neck and snuffling like a puppy.

“Get _off_!”

“I’m _trying_!” Kara argues, grinding her hips forward against Lena, and Lena just laughs and laughs and laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from a poem by Rumi:  
> 'This place is a dream.  
> Only a sleeper considers it real.  
> Then death comes at dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief.'
> 
> And *yes*, I am working on Maggie Sawyer's Guide, but guys, battle scenes are *hard*.
> 
> Love y'all!


End file.
